Variety (August 1953)

PICTURES Wednesday, August 5, 1933 Trade observers were wondering-* lliis ■^c'<'k-- : -w : h-c j th(Ti'''jn. concentrat- ing on the fight, to gottheMasQh bill through Congress, the Council of. Motion Plot Lire Organizations had not neglected its. pitch to the newspapers'.' Where some of 'the latter came out with editorials! favoring tax repeal others, includ- ing the powerful. J^.Y. Times, took on opposing view, .The position of. the Times was quickly assailed in -its own . letter. :, column hy such industry ..figures as Paramount’s Paul ltaibourn and Arthur Ij. Mayer, former exec di- rector of COMPO; Both deplored the. Times’ 'fa i 1 ure to' refor to perli- ' nerit figures'compiled by the indus- ' try-Haetsj o .prove t he yrgent need • for relief from the 20 v .'o admission ■ '.tax. *;■ ..- Among the papers lending sup- port to the film industry’s light were the N Y.. Journa) - American, which said “We think tile Presi- .'. dent should sign .it (the Mason measure I..’’ The. N.Y.- Daily. News favored /ioking the tax off, but expressed liope exhibs would use the good, sense of passing on! “a generous slice” of. the tax elimina- tion to the customers. The BroOk- . lyn Eagle editorialized that the Mason bill “should bp enacted for the . benefit of all concerned,” . Tbe Times' main point in coming ••dut.'iigainst ; ;av'Presi(icnUal. endorse- jnent. of the tax repqa 1 illeasure Svas that it was counter to the Admin- IstraUpn’s affirmed policy. of : clos- ing. the budgetary gap before tak- ing care of : any lax inequities, '’serious thpugh many - of these, are,” The paper cited fact that the Prosiw dent liad insisted on an extension of the excess profits tax, even though .lie considers it a bad tax; and that “if the Government had ■decided .that this' was propitious time to correct inecfuitics iii the tax structure, it would: certainly not do this by singling out one eco- nomic group for relief.” Pareni- thct.ica.lly, the 'Times also men- tioned exhibs’ intentions .to keep the profit, which it claimed would be tantamount to a 20% raise in prices. Both T1 aibourn and Mayer, made the most, of available COMPO fig- ures, showing the decline in indus-J try'.- income. Mayer particularly pointed out that, with no tax relief forthcoming, 5,000 houses would . have to close, reducing the Treas- ury's admissions tax revenue from $210,000,000 to $150,000,000. The industry figures that, with the tax removed,\i lie Treasury would actu- ally gain $3,500,000. .,. . '. ; ' GOMPO Asks Korea Fund Leaders to Tally Coin With the. Korean.; fund drive, launched and in high gear, the!! Council of Motion Picture Organi- zalions.this week. asked, .state and ! area chairmen to send estimates of I their collections to COMPO .head-, quarters in N. . COMPO execs.said they.needed tjic info pronto’i to hand on to the Arnefiean-Korean F o u pda fib. n,. which;is running the campaign.to. collect funds . for; Korean i^lmf! MdH theatres in the, country had; M e collection . • baskets . out this week, while others rare; joining them next week. Drive is being undertaken at the, Speci fie request of President Eisenr hower, .'' ■ ’’ in Los Angeles, Aug. 4. •••■ Vincent X. Whitman, N.Y. inven- tor, filed a $10.000;000 damage suit in Federal Court,; claiming : Walt Disney used his invention without permission in. the filming of.“Snow White and t he Seven Dwarfs;” “Pinocchio,” “Bambi,” “Fantasia,” "Peter Pan” and “Cinderella.” In his complaint Whitman claims, to hold patents on a “Composite system of photography, in which a portion of still background scene, pictorial ly recorded : is photb- .• Lu iL™1)1 Ved in a superimposed re latioii T on t.Tve visual actions, Which occur ' In the foreground.” : Despite a shaky cash, position, RKQ is showing signs ,of a come- back. under the helnismanship of proxy James R: Grainger! Distrib. orgl //Which ! ; formerly - bad to scroun'ge for product,, is begihning to witness, .the ■-.' beginning of a steady' flow of' pictures from the studio. Tn additibii; company is aimed with commitments from in- dies, making it unnecessary for last-minute buy-ups of product to plug the holes in the release slate. Distrib brg is particularly: en- couraged by the first picture to come from The studio, under the Grainger regime. Pic, “Second Chance,” a 3-D film starring Rob- ert M it chum and Linda Darncil, hit first position last week in Va- riety's national boxoffice survey, the first wholly-made RKO film to gain the, honor in some time. Grainger, who assumed the. top position at the beginning of the 3-D rumblings, decided to laitnch RKO’s production program with stefebpix, a decision that paid off with The initial entry. In addition', to. “Second Chance;" company has completed two more steredpix plus a. single flat entry, Deepies are 4 ‘Devil’s Canyon,” starring Virginia Mayo, and “Son of Sinbad,” with Vincent Price, “Devil” will hit the market about Aug. 15, while “Sinbad’’ is sct for fall release as is the conventional “French Line,” a Jane Russell starrer. 1 Whether RKO will continue on the ' 3-D; kick has not been indi-' rated. Two pictures are set to get under way shortly, “Range of the North,” starring Victor Mature, (Continued on page 18) . July V B.O. Winners 1. “Feather River” (WB). 2. “20,00.0 Fathoms” (WB). 3. “Shane’ (Par). 4. “Cinerama” (Indie). . 5. “Dangerous Wet” (M-G). 6, “Witch Doctor” ,20thK 7. “.Second Chance” (RKO). . 8/ “Scared Stiff” (Pari, . 9. ‘‘From Outer Space” (U V i 0. “The Maze” (AA>, I f. “Sangareti” JPar). 12. “Francis Big Town” (U>. : .Inability to lick the print prob- lem is forcing a delay in the open- ing of 20th-.Fox’s .first CinemaScope release, “The Robe.! Pic now isn’t due to bow. at. the N. Y. Roxy The- atre until . Sept,; 16. Original opening date; wasAug- 26. : “Robe” printing and dubbing is said to involve considerable prob- lems; some of which were outlined to 20ih division managers in N. Y.. recently by parfyl F. Zanuck. For. instance, the first three 20th CinemaScope pix were all lensed with the old Eastman Color, nega- tive stock... Impression had been that Technicolor would . have no trouble processing it. via its. own imbibitiod; method which is con- sidered^^ superior.; '■ > . Eventually ; it was established that .the res U R s ^ V efe unsatisfac- tory, and prints are now being made on Eastman. Colorf positive with, a less, grainy effect, Techni cameras can’t; take the Cinema. Scope ariamorphic Tens. Cinema- scope trio done, with - the old East- man stock includes, besides. “Tlxe Robe,” “How to Marry a Millipn- aire” and “Benoath the., Twelve Mile Reef.” Current CinemaScope product; uses the new Eastman tungsten balanced stock, which is a .vast improvement over the old color film arid can be satisfactorily handled by Teehnl. For some time to come, all “Robe” prints are being handled by the Techni lab on the Coast, since the London plant isn’t equip- ped to handle processing and sound addition. Dubbing is being done abroad, with the magnetic record shipped back here foif printing on the same film, that carries the visual record. Korda Wins Selznick’s 1st Gold Laurel Trophy First Golden T-aurel Trophy, to be presented from hefe oni in every year by David O. Selzmck to an outstanding. European producer, has been captured by Britain's. Sir Alexander Korda, It will .be pre- I sented,: along With golden! and Sil- ’ ver. Laurel Awards for. pix, . at the InternatiQ'nai Film . Festival at Edinburgh Aug. 30. ; : ■ Sir Alexander wgs .chosen by an American jury as the producer 44 contributing: most to internation- al goodwill .and mutual under- standing through motion pictures.” Poll was conducted by the Film Library of (he Museum of Modern Art. V Pace hy Show Stripper, Nude Pix; Robs Ozoners of 100G Alfred i’aiea, producer of ‘.‘Go, ■biographical film of Abe j money on baby sitters. < • ^aperstein. louiuier of the Harlem I to get home so Mate. Locr ^ . l»lonelroUers; is* diekerintr With "env v..,c ► . . diekering • T n it ed- A it ists for 'a distribution . deal.He .has also, held talks ■'.With rx.ecs.-jvt 20tl\-Kox, RKO and Fara- ; liiount." . • / Film, starring T.)ano -Chirk and . Sidney Poitier. was filmed cp'mf pletely in New York at Fox-Movie- tone "- Studios, and at Madison Square Garden, it is currently be- '' log edited and. scored, . with c.om- Louisville, Aug. 4. ■'../'Daylight' saying time is being blamed on the $100,000 loss taken by drive-in theatres this year. Sit- uation locally is that drive-ins had tor set their; nightly opening time • so late—usually around 8 or 8:30 p.ni —rthat when the first, film of a doubm feature had to be rerun for late comers; / it was midnight be- fore, patrons Horn, distant homes j could step on the gas and head for. their home base to! hit the hay. According to exhibs, patrons Who bring their, kids, thus saving -. ''don’t, like' 1 ....... .. . Local outdoor wit h ' exhibs .say attendance has dropped,.! ' partly . blamed on competition, '. partly to the quality of product*.! i but mostly because, of' the time’ factor.' Villains iii the situation, accord- ing, .to exhibs, are .the local Cham-! her of Commerce and Ideal news- papers. which editorially supported I daylight . saving time. . They’re ■ tagged the main p.roblenf, having 1 a . n ^ n ^ the nm- • been able to change the. state law] ' '.Q 1)llf inVn/li/vnf i rlii AhnM/fi(4^ it* a ■* r! 101 . 654 /, by James , but, impotent in- changing the set-i \V ong Howe, the Hollywood camera -1 ting of the sun. There are cu’rreiit-1 RU'gger. the ..film is planned for | ville, plus, several in the Sputhern I lelease to coincide with the open- . Indiana area; just across the Ohio I in g of the basketball season. J River. . '. J Minneapolis, Aug. 4. . Lower loop Grand theatre faces possible license revocation, foirpw 1 - ing the police morals squad; raid on it for showing “Yovir Parisian Burlesque,” a film featuring strip- tease. Cops confiscated the print and arrested the theatre's owner, Samuel Berger, who pleaded guilty in municipal court to showing an indecent,-film. He Was fined $100. Jake Sullivan, police, morals squad head, said he'd recommend to the city council revocation of license because of previous similar troubles with the Same shovyhouse. Berger (old the court “they (the police) ordered me to quit showr 1 ing the picture and I did,” But Sullivan declared the exhibitor had disregarded numerous Warnings about such pictures. '. . Sullivan testified the same pie, under the different “French Peep Show” title, was shown at RKO- Pan a year ago. At that time, too, it was halted and the manager was arrested - and fined $100. A move for theatre.. license revocation, however, failed. : .Prior, to the “Peep Sh6w” .inci- dent. police arrested the owner of anot her .lower- loop showhouse, the. Crystal, foi showing a. nudist pic^ ture. In this: case,. too, a fine, of $100/ was assessed when. the court decided it Was indecent., The city council, health and hospital com- ini ttee, after debat ing whether to;. revoke the theatre license, voted to; give the owner another chance. ■ AVhile .permitting striptease ..'at the local burlesque- house, . “be- cause (he performers are far re- moved from the audience and Work with - lights dimmed,” the police morals• squad has ruled .against it vinWlieat-reHarsf^^NiteTy^peelers" must leave the stage with the same amount of attire, or,lack of it, worn upon entrance. intent on giving its product a flexibility . that Would ' make : it adaptable to all houses, Paramount is raising the aspect: ratio p'f its pix to 2:1 and simultaneously is. experi- menting with the iiitroduction of an anamorphic effect on: prints after films have been lensed!! •' Latter policy has the double adr. vantage of avoiding the loss of definition said to be: inherent ih the use: of any ■ squeeze” lens* and of making pix fit the wide screens necessitated by CinemaScope and other anamorphic systems. ; Refusing to go ; into detail, Par prexy Barney Balab.an. said in N.Y. last week; that the new Par system would be *!eompatibie” all around. He added that all exhibs would be in a. position to play Par pix. Tipoff that Par was changing the aspect ratio for its films came when William Wilder, director of Par’s “Sabrina /Fair,”; Said! in N.Y. that he is planning on lensing .the film in a 2:1 aspect ratio and that Michael Curtiz has skedded “White Christmas” for the same dimension. Par pix so far have been Shot in an aspect ratio of 166 to L; Wilder disclosed that. lie. would! use an I8m French lens but main- tained he was not aware of its details. He returned to the Coast last Friday (1) after picking loca- tion sites for “Sabrina Fair.” : Latter is due to roll Sept. 21. One reason for Par’s switch to a Wider^screen without use.of any of the anamiorphic 2.66 or 2.55 to 1 systems is said to be the feeling that, whereas scope is a desirable thing, it is important not to sacri- fice height; t The national boxoffice rv , v July definitely pointed up just how much stronger business at the firH- run theatres Is this summer than last year. Not only if id grosses run $400,000 to. $500,000 a week hi lt 1 • r>p than iii 1952, but also the five b-yi gest money pictures grossed nearly $2,900,000, according to reports of Variety correspondents in 24. ri p, resentative; key cities; The from these 24 cities rarv so cop. sistently near $500,000. ahead of last year that exhibitors . verg amazed at the improved, trade.. Fart that many major companies liaAe Strong product,!mostly 3-D pix, out in release this, summer despite the Sumitier! dog days is : held, re- sponsible. “Charge at Feather River” i\VBv a! highly realistic western as clone . in 3-D, is boxoffice champion for July, according to reports from Variety correspondents. Film hit near $670,000 total- gross on the month. Ranging from big to smasli in most keys, the pic was first two weeks running and held at a big third evert in closing week of: J li ly. “Beast From 20,000 Fathoms” (WB), which was strong in first part of the jpast month, won second po- sition. It was; Closely pressed hy “Shane” (Par): which copped thinl money. / The latter, which was sec- ond in June, rounded out. the month running a great secorid and; never dipped below sixth pi ace. . “Shane” gained momentum as the month; progressed, shaping as one of Paramount’s greatest grosser s since early In the year, ;. VCinerama” (indie) ' finished fourth as compared with fifth spot ■: (Continued on page 6 ) N, Y, to Europe Marlon Brando joseph Burstyn Donald Buka : Madeleine! Carroll Clark H. Getts Lisa Howard Walter Lowendahl Elaine Malbin Arthur L. Mayer Joe.Ricar.de!, .Kay;Starr . Jan Sterling Spencer Tracy Europe to N. Y, V Eve Arden , Guy Bolton ^Nadine'Conner Harry S. Dube Juliette Ferly. J.. C, Flippen Jack Gould Radie Harris Sherman S, Krellberg E. .R. Lewis Herman M, Levy Richard- Myers Jeff Richards Shepard Traube Sir William Walten N.Y. to L. A. ; Ed Gardner Gabby Hayes Joseph H: Moskowitz -William-Sad l- Ray Stark Dan S. Terrell. Herbert J. Yates Rep’s 5-Point Statement Clears Its Aspect Ratio Policy for‘New Era’Pix To dispel any mystery about its policy in what it calls the “new era of screen dimensions;” Repub- lic Pictures this week issued a five- point statement clarifying aspect s ratios as far as production or pro- jection of company product are concerned, . •' - (1) Rep. points out its new films are being Tensed, so that ; they may be projected on either! widescreen or on a conventional-sized screen. (2) The l;66 to 1 aspect ratio has. been adopted to enable new prod- uct to be thrown oil vyidestrern with aspect! ratios Tanging from lit e con ventiona! 1.33 to 1 proport Km up to widescreen ratios of 1.85 to 1. Exhibitors; according to the .com- pany, will discover that they can select one set of wide-angle ."pro- jection:!-Tenses Which can '.project aspect ratios of 1.66 to 1 up to 1.85 to I, and merely change the pro- jection aperture for the different aspect ratios. (3) In switching to a 1.66 to 1 aspect ratio, Rep claims that it hasn’t altered the actual picture frame for conventional size, but has “composed its subject. matter in production,” so that players’ heads and important subject matter (Continued on page 16) L. A. to N. Y# Buddy Adler Mari Aldon Rita Allen Ricfiard Bare Pandro S. Berman Eddie Bracken ••- Barbara Britton - Hillary Brooke Copp Collins ■Jeanne Crain Denise Parcel Howard Difetz Edna Ferber. Morey R. Goldstein James R. Grainger George Jessel Paul Kelly Deborah Kerr Burt Lancaster Dorothy McGuire Frank Melford Jim Murray Jean Peters Lester Sansom Betty Smith Mark Stevens Archie Tomson Spencer Tracy =FranY r W axman^=^= Meredith Willson Robert Wise . Teresa Wright